Page 2 of Daddy Dreadful (Forbidden Pleasures Island #5)

Chapter Two

Millie

The cool, smooth wood of the paddle taps against my bottom and it’s all I can do not to whimper in response. I hate that paddle, as he well knows, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to give him the satisfaction of whining about it.

Doctor D loves it when Little girls whine and plead for mercy.

“One for each minute you were late arriving to the plane. The count is ‘One, I will be on time, Sir”. Do you understand, Camilla?”

I understand you’re a dickhead. “Yes, Sir,” I grind out instead, unwilling to give him any more reasons to punish me.

The heavy wood snaps against my already aching bottom and I let out a low hiss at the explosion of pain. “One, I will be on time, Sir.”

Another swat strikes the opposite cheek and my legs instinctively try to kick up, but they’re trapped between his, rendering my struggles completely ineffective. “Two, I will be on time, Sir.”

Three. Four. Five. I will be on time, Sir.

Number six lands right on my sit-spot and tears well in my eyes. As much as I don’t want him to see me cry, my voice is thick with them when I give my count. “S-six. I will be on t-time, Sir.”

“There we go,” he murmurs before snapping the paddle against my other cheek in that same spot. “I do love it when you cry for me, Camilla. Don’t hold back, little one.”

Little one. In all our months together, he’s never called me that. Never anything but Camilla or Ms. Hamilton. Why is he suddenly calling me “little one”?

The cool wood rubs over my scorched flesh. “Camilla. What’s your count?”

Crap, crap, crap. What is my count? “Um. S-seven, Sir?”

“Are you asking me or telling me, Camilla?”

I’m fairly certain I have it right. Please, god, let me have it right. “Seven, I will be on time, Sir.”

“Good girl.”

How many times have I heard those words from him? Not as many as I would like, certainly, but enough that they shouldn’t hit me in the gut the way they do now.

But there’s something about his tone, the low, growly way he praises me that sends my heart racing.

Before I can think too hard about it, however, the paddle lands again, and the tears I’ve been fighting so hard to hold back burst out of me on a sob. “Eight! I will b-be on time, Sir!”

“So close, little one. Just two more. You can take two more, can’t you, my sweet, brave Camilla?”

Sweet? Brave?

Who the hell are you and what have you done with Doctor D?

I struggle my way through nine and ten with his odd praise ringing in my ears.

And when it’s done, I collapse over his knee, sobbing so hard I can barely breathe.

It’s not even that the spanking hurt all that much.

I’ve certainly had worse. But his behavior, the encouraging words and gentle touches, it all has me so twisted up inside I can’t think straight.

“Up you go, little one. Let’s get you changed into something more appropriate.”

Sweeping me up in his arms, which is a thrill I never expected to experience for too many reasons to name, he carries me into a small changing room and lays me out on the cushioned table.

I’m feeling far more Little with him than I’ve ever felt with anyone, and rather than the joy I’d always hoped to feel when I finally let myself go this far, all I can manage is a bone-deep terror.

But when I try to hug Cobie to my chest for comfort, I realize my arms are empty.

“Where’s Cobie?” Fresh tears well in my eyes as panic claws at my stomach. “I need Cobie!”

“Cobie?” Under different circumstances, I might have been able to enjoy the sight of Doctor D looking so thoroughly confused. “Who’s Cobie?”

“M-my dr-dragon,” I sob out. I try to roll off the table to find him, but Donovan stops me with one hand.

“Stay right there, little girl. I don’t want you hurting yourself,” he scolds as he uses his free hand to fasten a leather strap around my waist.

“I want Cobie!” Kicking my feet, I reach for the strap to unfasten myself, but I’m stopped cold by a sudden stinging on the top of my hand.

Did he just—Did he just smack my hand ?

Why, of everything he’s ever done to me that should be the thing that makes me feel the Littlest of all, I’m not sure. All I know is I feel very, very small as I look up at him, my bottom lip quivering from his impromptu discipline.

“Do not touch that strap, Camilla Joy. I will go get your dragon, but if you move from that table before I get back you will be a very sorry Little girl. Am I understood?”

I’m already a very sorry Little girl, but I know all too well how easily he can make me regret even the smallest act of defiance, so I keep that thought inside where it belongs. “Y-yes, Sir.”

“Good girl. I’ll be right back.”

It seems like it takes forever for him to return with my best friend clutched in his hand, but I don’t dare even touch the strap around my waist.

“Here you go, little one,” he says softly as he hands me my stuffie. “Cobie said you were very brave during your spanking and she’s been waiting to snuggle you.”

“Cobalt,” I correct him, not caring that my voice sounds extra pouty and Little. “ His name is Cobalt. Only his friends call him Cobie and you are not his friend.”

Donovan blinks down at me, and despite how my bottom is aching from his hard hand and the paddle, guilt twists in my stomach. Even if he’s been super mean to me, I don’t have to be mean back.

But before I can apologize, he nods. “Cobalt, then. Now, let’s get your diaper on so we can get buckled in for takeoff.”

Taking the toy from his hand, I clutch Cobie to me, my flaming-hot face buried in his soft fur as my boss slides equally soft cotton beneath my bare bottom.

The diaper traps the heat from my spanking against my skin and by the time we return to our seats I’m feeling pretty freaking sorry for myself.

All this because I was a few minutes late and wanted to dress like a Big girl? What the heck has gotten into Doctor D?

And why the hell am I getting this version of him when I'm all packed up and ready to leave the island for good?

Donovan

It’s agony, waiting for the plane to reach cruising altitude with Camilla sniffling quietly in the seat next to me, her tattered blue dragon held close to her chest as she stares out the window.

She’s adorable, dressed in nothing but her t-shirt and diaper, and my arms physically ache with the desire to hold her.

So close. Everything I’ve wanted for so long is finally so close… and yet still so far away.

After what feels like an eternity, the seatbelt sign switches off and I reach for her belt to unbuckle her. “Come here, little one.”

“Huh?” Turning away from the window, she frowns at me. “Why? Am I in trouble?”

“No, Camilla. I just want to hold you.”

Her brow furrows, the corners of her mouth dipping down even further. “Why?”

“Because Little girls need to be held after a big punishment like that.”

“But… you’ve never held me before.”

She’s right. On the few occasions I’ve needed to spank her at the office, I tried to keep things as professional as possible. Which meant not indulging my need to cradle her in my arms after a spanking, and instead simply giving her a brief hug and a candy bar to help with any aftereffects.

“I’ve also never had to spank you quite so hard before,” I say by way of explanation for the sudden change from our routine. “You were very naughty this afternoon, Camilla.”

The reminder brings an adorable flush to her cheeks and whether it’s because she wants to be held or she simply doesn’t want to argue, she rises from her chair to settle gingerly on my lap. But when I try to draw her closer, she resists, the color in her face deepening to a dark rose.

“I’m too heavy,” she whispers, still holding herself ramrod straight on my lap.

“You’re no such thing.” She’s all full, delightful curves that I can’t wait to sink into the second she’s no longer in my employ. “Now, stop being ridiculous. The last thing I need while we’re at this conference is for you to be dropping because you wouldn’t let me hold you.”

She bristles at that, her eyes narrowing. “So this is just because you don’t want me to be distracted by my emotions while I’m helping you at the conference?”

It’s not entirely a lie. I will need her attention focused on assisting me while we’re working. And the whole truth is far too messy to get into just now, so I nod. “Yes. You know how difficult it can be for a Little to function if she isn’t given proper aftercare.”

Oddly enough, that explanation seems to calm her.

The little furrow between her brows disappears and she smiles as she shifts to lay her head on my shoulder.

“For a second there, I almost thought you were being nice. I was worried I might have to find someone to examine your head while we’re at the conference. ”

Letting my eyes close, I savor the weight of her on my lap as I hold her close, my cheek pressed against her soft hair. “You never have to worry about me being nice.”

As her boss, I’ve been strict and demanding. As her Daddy, I won’t be any less so. If anything, I’ll require even more of her than I ever did when she was merely my employee.

“Yeah. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she says with a giggle.

Her laughter is musical, and it occurs to me I haven’t heard it nearly as often as I would like lately. When she first came to work for me, she was all sunshine and laughter, but over the past few months her giggles have been few and far between.

Too much stress. Little girls aren’t meant to work so much. Once we’re back home and I’m able to take care of her the way she deserves, I’ll get to hear that sweet laughter the way I used to.

Just that thought is almost enough to make me want to turn the plane around. But no. There are preparations to be made, and I don’t want my sweet Camilla underfoot while our home is filled with construction workers.

I need to be patient. Just a few more days until we return to the island, and then Camilla will be mine forever.